


i want a new brain, i want a new heart

by paopuleaf



Category: Terraria
Genre: Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Name Changes, Pre-Canon, Resurrection, hostility friendships can be something so personal, kind of, mentions of the painter, they're both very trans gender, you know how it is!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 08:00:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29292519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paopuleaf/pseuds/paopuleaf
Summary: a guide and a zoologist walk into hell. "hey," one says to the other, "did you know i'm going to die here?"
Relationships: Guide (Terraria) & Zoologist (Terraria)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 12





	i want a new brain, i want a new heart

**Author's Note:**

> they're both trans. the zoologist is nonbinary
> 
> guide uses ryan, luke and asher in that order  
> zoologist uses robyn and then lori!
> 
> i think they should be friends. i read the part of the guide's wiki page that says he's fond of the zoologist and lost my entire mind!

i.

"i'm going to die here, you know." his voice is neutral besides a hint of what she can only identify as delight. "well, not here but," fans out his arms, gestures to all of the hell they're standing in, " _ here _ , y'know?"

"you're a freak," robyn replies, affectionate, and ryan laughs. "let's get, like, out of here, then. don't feel like having you die on my time."

he spins on his heel, and for a moment, she's sure he's just going to - fall. drown in the lava and begin anew, again. but he doesn't. instead: takes four steps back onto the bridge. relative safety. "you don't like my tooltips, robyn? i'll keep it in mind." a smile.

robyn keeps a careful eye on their footing as they head back to the ladder.

  
-

ii.

“luke. luke. luke.”

luke closes his book, looking up to see lori leaning against the doorframe of his room, tail lashing. “lori,” he greets, smiling, and she grins, baring her teeth. “do you have something for us to do, or is this a courtesy visit?”

“when the fuck has it ever been a courtesy visit, babe?” she drops into the chair across from him, backwards as usual, head resting on the back. “i need someone to come help me gather flowers.”

“go ask tatiana. just because she’s your ex doesn’t mean she isn’t the best with plants anymore.”

lori rolls her eyes, flicks him. her claws draw blood - only a little - and he wipes it off on his sleeve. something to be washed out with all the faded-white that was there before it. “dick.”

“fucker,” he replies, all instinct. “don’t tell me you just want my company?”

“obviously.” the floor creaks as lori gets up, and then there’s arms around his legs and no ground beneath his feet, and then he’s over her shoulder, effortless. “we’re going flower hunting!”

“of  _ course _ . you’re a menace.”

“always, babe.”

he adjusts himself, leaning an elbow against her spine as he shifts. “so what do we have to get that isn’t in tatiana’s shop? or in the chests, or-”

“i get it, i  _ get  _ it,” and he can’t see it, but he knows lori is rolling her eyes. “we’re trying to get those stupid strange flowers, the ones you can trade to hannibal? i want some dyes for my outfits, and he’s going to give them to me.”

“aren’t those rare?”

“yeah, duh. i didn’t bring along another pair of eyes for nothing.”

luke lets himself be carried until he sees the painter a couple yards away in the fields, doing some dumb shit or another with their easel. smacks lori’s back until she drops him unceremoniously onto the grass. “what was that all about?”

“that guy,” he says, a low whisper, “is a fucking  _ douche. _ ”

“what d’ya have against marco, babe?” lori averts her gaze from them, turning to him with eyebrows raised and amusement twitching at the corner of her eyes. “you even dropped all that, like, fancy talk for insulting them, never thought i’d see the day.”

luke pulls himself up, ignores the way the grass is beginning to stain his pants green. “this world is beautiful as it is, they- lori, they painted my room while i was  _ gone,  _ it was so very rude of them-”

lori lets him continue as they walk, downing a potion and shuddering at the oil-slick feeling in her throat. “you  _ really _ don’t like them, huh.”

“they’re fine,” luke finishes helplessly, and she laughs so loud it scares the birds out of the trees above them.

-

iii.

"luke-"

"asher," he corrects, quiet. soft. his hands are winding a bandage around the harsh-scarred loop. "it's... asher, this time."

lori goes silent. sits down next to asher and takes the end of the bandage from him, picks up where he left off. "i didn't notice," she mumbles. uncertain.

"last night was the blood moon," and for a moment, she almost thinks he's going to trail off into one of his clinical tips, "so i wouldn't expect you to. seems like you were having fun with all those zombies, though."

"i love to attack kill, like, you know that." pause. "what got you?"

"meat mass. the ones with all the eyes."

"ew."

"yeah." asher winces as one of lori's claws scrapes against his skin. she doesn't apologize, but she tilts her fingers in more, makes sure the scraping is against fabric and not flesh. "it feels like they're still watching me."

lori seems to consider this, for a moment, taking a deep inhale. "no," she says, after a moment, "i can't smell rotting meat. you just have problems disorder! that'll be two gold."

it catches asher off guard - she can see the shift between light paranoia to confusion to laughter before he even snickers. "and what is all that gold for?"

"your diagnosis. see, like, you don't even need to go talk to that lame nurse, i've got you covered!"

"of course." the smile sticks on his face for moments longer, before it fades, peeling off like dead skin. "something is watching me, though. it doesn't feel kind."

"maybe it's going to drag you down to hell."

"oh, no," he says, voice light with something on the verge of laughter -  _ god _ , she used to be able to read him so much better than this, "that won't be any evil force."

**Author's Note:**

> the guide, fully aware of his impending ritual sacrifice to summon the wall of flesh : (:
> 
> you can find me on twitter @ ghostcatboys, & on tumblr @ catboydeicide ! i cannot promise any more terraria content and i refuse to<3


End file.
